An ode to one of the great black music Meccas in America would, one expects, be nothing less than soulful, funky and jazz-infused to the core. Yusef Lateef's Detroit is all of that and much more, though. Indeed, the great multi-reedist reflects the heritage of the Motor City with a verve that makes you believe that he possibly did some moonlighting on Stevie and Smokey sessions such is the gorgeous melodic content of the songs of this stellar 1969 release.

Lateef blends African-American and Arabic and Asian sensibilities like few others, the epitome of which is the bustling ‘Eastern Market’, with its serpentine flute and fizzing percussion atop a tasty backbeat.

The music is also a calling card for one of the greatest rhythm sections of all time – Bernard Purdie (drums), Chuck Rainey (electric bass) and Eric Gale (guitar). That is absolute groove royalty, well worthy of Prince Yusef. He ventured to many musical horizons in his long and eventful career, but as much as Lateef embraced non-western sounds his roots in black America were never denied, as this masterpiece duly shows.